MISD works to deal with unexpected student growth

Published 4:14 pm, Saturday, August 27, 2011

With enrollment in Midland Independent School District up by more than 1,300 since this time last year, district officials met Friday to decide what needs to be done.

Early enrollment figures, according to the district, have reached 22,131. That's an increase of more than 1,300 compared to the start of school in 2010.

The growth has produced some unacceptable class sizes, according to district officials. Elise Kail, executive director of accountability, reported some kindergarten classes have 30-plus students while others have only 15 or 20 students.

According to data provided by the district, 23 campuses and every grade level except fourth, 10th and 12th saw an increase in enrollment this year.

Hiring more teachers or having teachers move to another campus are seen as likely solutions in the official plan that will be released Monday.

"We're going to end up adding some positions back on and are looking to hire some additional teachers," said Chief Financial Officer David Garcia on Friday.

The district's goal is to refrain from moving any students to a new campus, Kail said.

"Changing a teacher is traumatic for a student of any age," Kail said.

As mandated by the state, class sizes for kindergarten through fourth grades must be no larger than 22 students to one teacher.

If classes are larger than the 22-to-1 ratio, the district can apply for a waiver from the Texas Education Agency, said Jane Rambo, MISD's executive director of elementary education. Waivers can be granted because of lack of facilities, lack of teachers or unanticipated growth.

Last year, MISD submitted waivers for six classes based on unanticipated growth, and it is likely more will be submitted this year, Rambo said. She said district officials were expected to set a cap for classes.

"I cannot remember the last time we grew with this many students from one year to the next," Rambo said.

All waivers must be approved by the board of trustees before they are submitted to TEA.

On Friday, Superintendent Ryder Warren said it was impossible for the district to predict this growth.

However, the 2011-12 budget the board approved Tuesday was created assuming 22,498 students would enroll, Garcia said. That is more than the number of students enrolled Thursday, the last day data was available.

Garcia said "there's no exact science" to predict the number of students who will enroll, but finance officials roll over the number of students from year to year, account for growth based on historical data and extrapolate a final number.

Meredith Moriak can be reached at mmoriak@mrt.com.

How district officials could not know enrollment was going up?

Superintendent Ryder Warren said MISD's growth is in contrast to the decline other West Texas districts are seeing, and there's no real way to know how many students will enroll.

Last year, the district grew by 899 students from the first day to the last day of school, according to district documents.

Based on last year's enrollment, MISD accounted for increased growth of about 500.

"We did predict growth, but we just didn't predict this much growth," Warren said.

As of Thursday, MISD had 1,300 more students enrolled since the beginning of school in 2010, according to district documents.

"Even if we planned for this kind of growth, I don't know what we would've changed," Warren said. "Budgetarily, we would have had to make even harder calls."

This year, MISD absorbed 80 positions through attrition to balance the budget. Of those, about 60 were instructional faculty, and some may be refilled to meet classroom needs, Chief Financial Officer David Garcia said.

MISD's current growth pattern may require the district to hire more teachers. Warren said the funds will have to come from the district's reserve or be cut from the $162 million balanced budget passed Tuesday.

"We may be able to cut from other places as we get into the year and still keep it balanced," Warren said.

Although there have been a large number of unexpected enrollments, Warren said it's a positive thing.

"I'm glad to see we are a growing district," Warren said. "That means Midland is vibrant and the economy is good."